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Cody sighed as they continued to walk through the desert in silence. They had lost the others' trail, so now they were searching for them the hard way. So far, they'd been attacked by two massive sand worms five times as long as Cody was tall and as wide as his upper body.
"We should head back," Aerith finally sighed. "They'll be back as soon as they finish. We should wait there for them."
"Agreed," Cody nodded. "Come on."
He turned, leading them back toward town. As he walked, he pressed the crown of his watch in, the display lighting up with a map of the area around them, displaying his location as a dot, though the box monitoring Cissnei's vitals was empty and blank still. He closed the screen just as a massive worm burst out of the ground ahead of them. Tifa shot forward instantly, slamming an uppercut into the underside of the worm's head, hurling it backward so that its body was exposed. Instantly, Cody launched himself forward, slashing it across its left side. A second later, Boco stepped off of its other side as Jessie slashed the other side. The worm shrieked in pain, thrashing for a moment before Roche slashed his glowing, mako-green sword, sending out an arc of energy, the energy slicing through the section of worm between Cody and Jessie's gashes, finishing severing it and allowing its upper half to fall to the ground. They continued on their way, making it back to the village after a few minutes and asked around to find a way out of the prison and back to the Gold Saucer. Finally, they found out. A single racer could be sent back if they won a Chocobo Race. A few minutes later, the others returned. Barret had a gold necklace hanging from his hand and looked both furious and devastated.
"What happened?" Cody asked Cloud quietly.
"It was Barret's former friend, one who Barret lost his hand trying to hold up," Cloud said. "He was going to kill Marlene to send her to her mother, so Barret fought him. Dyne decided Barret was better for him and jumped off a cliff, leaving the necklace for Marlene."
"I see," Cody said. "Come on. We can only get out of here by winning a Chocobo Race, and only one can go at a time. Someone has to go up and plead our case to Dio. The Bodybuilder guy."
"I could go," Jessie volunteered. "Dio knows me from when I worked there."
"No," Cody said. "I'll go. I'm one of our most reasonable."
"If we want reasonable, we should send Aerith," Tifa pointed out.
"And then Dio might demand sex in exchange for our release," Cody said.
"Dio's not like that," Jessie said. "Besides, we can all take care of ourselves."
"Cody's right," Cloud said. "It's better if a guy goes. It's not worth the risk."
"He's right," Barret said. "He or Cloud should go."
"Cody goes," Cloud said.
"We also need a manager," Cody said.
"I'll do it," Jessie said. "Even if anyone tries anything, they won't have time before you and Boco finish the race. Not that anyone will try anything."
Cody frowned and hesitated before nodding. They walked to the man who could send them up for the race and Jessie took Cody's hand as they rode the elevator.
"I'm going to be okay," Jessie said. "I have my sword and materia if anyone tries anything. Have faith in me. I'll be okay."
Cody nodded, smiling. He tugged his mask down and kissed her for a few seconds before pulling it back up. "Please be careful."
Jessie nodded as the elevator reached the top. They walked out of it, Cody leading Boco, and stopped as a man stepped out in front of them.
"You two here for a race?" the man asked.
"Hi, Joe," Jessie smiled.
"Jessie?" Joe asked. "What are you doing coming up that elevator?"
"There was a bit of trouble, but after we win the race, we're hoping to clear it up," Jessie said.
"Oh, well, good luck," Joe said.
Jessie nodded and walked away with Cody and Boco, explaining that Joe was one of the Chocobo jockeys Cody would be beating. After a few minutes of preparing and arranging to be entered into the race, Cody was called to the track for his race and brought Boco with him. Dio narrowed his eyes slightly on the way, and the woman working at the Chocobo Square's desk smirked knowingly. Cody climbed onto Boco's back as Boco took his place in the lineup. Then, the race began. As with the race Cody and Boco had run before being arrested, they easily beat the competition. When they returned to the starting point and left the track, they found Jessie talking with Dio. He glanced at them and shook his head.
"I don't know why I agreed to let you use that bird," Dio said. "Jessie told me about Dyne, so I'm granting you and your friends a full pardon. Here." He held out a slip of paper and Cody accepted it, seeing it was a written order signed by Dio to release the others. "By the way, I recently met Sephiroth. Your blonde friend mentioned you were looking for him. He said he was going to Gongaga, south of the river. I've arranged to have a buggy given to you. It'll let you cross rivers and deserts with ease."
"Thank you," Cody said.
He and Jessie headed back to the elevator to get the rest of their friends before they left, Cait Sith coming with them, and found the buggy, an oddly-shaped red vehicle, waiting. They all climbed in, finding it had plenty of room, and Jessie leaned on Cody's shoulder as Boco curled up in the back, eating from a bag of Gysahl Greens Cody gave him.
"You know, I'm a little disappointed we didn't get the chance for you to flirt with the girl at the hotel," Cody smirked.
Jessie giggled. "I'm sure Aerith would be willing to play if you really want me to flirt with a girl."
Cody snorted. "We probably shouldn't step on Cloud's toes."
"No threat of that," Cloud said flatly. "Knock yourselves out."
Aerith began to pout. "That's so mean! Won't you be at least a little jealous?"
"No," Cloud said.
"Even a tiny bit?" Aerith asked.
"No," Cloud said.
"What if I put on a bikini again?" Aerith offered, sounding almost innocent.
"No," Cloud said just as flatly as before.
Aerith pouted again. The ride fell silent as they travelled south, crossing a shallow river, then turned west. They hadn't really had any more of a lead than South, but Aerith had suggested trying the Cosmo Canyon. For lack of a better idea, they all agreed, even Cloud. Cody glanced at Aerith, and she met his eyes for a moment before nodding slightly, then turned back to the front. Cody frowned, running his thumb over his Materia bands. Before long, the vehicle rolled to a stop and they all climbed out. Cosmo Canyon was a large group of buildings roughly the same size as Kalm, but built onto a mountain. As they walked up the stairs to the gate entrance, Red XIII ran ahead, announcing himself to the man at the gate as Nanaki. The man welcomed him home and Nanaki ran past him into the village. However, when they asked if they could follow him, the man told them the village was full, and he couldn't let them in. However, Nanaki returned almost before he had finished his sentence.
"They helped me when I was on the road," Nanaki said. "Please let them in."
"Oh, they did?" the man asked. "Well, alright then! Come on in!"
He stepped out of the way and they all walked into the village together. However, within a few steps, Cody and Jessi each grabbed one of Aerith's hands, excusing themselves and heading to a building off to the side with the word "Bar" over it. Aerith followed willingly and they headed to a table away from the bar, somewhere they could talk without being overheard, and they all sat down.
Cody glanced around before looking to Aerith. "Okay, so, right here and now, you're going to tell me everything."
Aerith nodded. "Okay. The first thing you need to know is that...the Lifestream doesn't exist solely liked to this time."
"What do you mean?" Jessie asked.
"It...The Lifestream exists across all of time," Aerith said. "So...at any given moment, the souls of those who have returned to the planet exist across all of time as well. And...that's where the problem started. Sephiroth tried to destroy the world and Cloud and the others stopped him. Then he found a way to come back, but Cloud stopped him again. Sephiroth couldn't come back again, so he tried something else. He retained his sense of self, his individuality, inside of the Lifestream, so he used it existing across all of time to project his soul backward in time and possess anyone who was susceptible. They're called Sephiroth Clones. By using them, he tried to alter events, to change his fate so that he wouldn't die. But in doing so, he awakened the Harbinger of Fate. The being your brother is trying to summon. When my soul from the future that was in the Lifestream realized what Sephiroth was trying to do, I searched through time to find myself, anywhere I was talking to the planet. And then I told myself everything. I tried to stop Sephiroth, to keep things progressing the way they were meant to, but Sephiroth was too persistent. He changed everything, and before we knew it, we had also accidentally incurred the Harbinger's wrath. Sephiroth used his sword and the Lifestream's power to cut a rift between our realm and the unseen realm in which the Harbinger resided. I tried to warn the others not to go without revealing enough for the Harbinger to wipe the slate clean and start again, but the others decided to go anyway. So we crossed over into the Harbinger's world, and we destroyed it. We killed Fate."
"Jesus!" Cody said. "What happened?"
"Chaos," Aerith said. "The death of Fate removed its influence from all of time. Fate is also omnipresent throughout time, so without it to keep the timeline flowing properly, the timeline all but shattered. There became as many alternate timelines as there are decisions in every person's life. The timelines all spiral and cross, sometimes merging like cracks in glass. From the point of view of the original timeline, we're in an alternate timeline. The Aerith from the Lifestream warned all of the other Aeriths of what happened, and I've been asking her for advice about things from time to time."
"What do you mean we're an alternate timeline?" Jessie asked. "Were we not supposed to know each other or something?"
"My mask," Cody said, Aerith nodding. "I was never supposed to survive birth, but without Fate, someone was able to save me." He glanced at Jessie. "You were supposed to die on the support pillar. We were never supposed to be a part of the team."
"There's more than that," Aerith said. "Roche's pregnant mother was supposed to die as collateral damage during a battle between the Turks and the original Avalanche, Jessie was supposed to be proud of the damage of the bomb at the first reactor, which was supposed to be the sole cause of the damage, your older brother was supposed to be caught and killed by the experiment Hojo tried to kill you all with when you rescued me, causing your father to take his own life from grief. As I said, every decision creates a new timeline."
"Could time potentially shatter?" Jessie asked. "You said they were like cracks in a window."
"That was just to give you an idea to visualize it," Aerith said. "There's no threat of time shattering, at least that we know of."
"We?" Cody asked.
"Me and all of the other versions of me from the other timelines," Aerith said.
"Can I ask you something?" Jessie asked.
"Of course," Aerith nodded.
"Is there a timeline where Cody's allergy is cured?" Aerith asked.
Aerith shook her head. "This is the only timeline, anywhere, where Cody survived. He died everywhere else."
"I have a question," Cody said, Aerith looking at him with a pleasant, expecting smile. "There are times where you look...like you're struggling not to get close to Cloud but just can't help yourself. There are, of course, also times where you make it a point to flirt with him, but the times where you're trying not to...you die in the original timeline, don't you?"
Aerith's expression fell and she nodded. "When I try to stop Sephiroth's plan, he interrupts before I can and stabs me, while using the Jenova Cells inside of Cloud to force him under Sephiroth's control, stopping him from moving. By the time Cloud could control himself again, it was too late."
"And what was it that Sephiroth wanted?" Cody asked. "If Fate's not a problem anymore-"
"I can't tell you everything," Aerith interrupted. "Fate may not be a threat anymore, but me and all of the other Aeriths agreed that we have to do what we can to minimize the number of timelines being created. We can't stop it, but we're trying to to do what we can."
"So, what, we're going to walk along the same path as the original timeline as much as possible?" Cody asked.
"Yes," Aerith nodded, then grew even more serious. "But listen to me very, very carefully. Your brother can not be allowed to summon the Harbinger. If he did, the first thing the Harbinger would do is correct the Timeline. It would erase every timeline that isn't the original. Everyone who isn't meant to be alive according to that timeline would die."
"I understand," Cody nodded. "I'll leave to deal with him now."
Aerith shook her head. "One of the others says he doesn't have everything he needs, and won't have until after Sephiroth has been dealt with, but she won't tell me what he needs. Only that Sephiroth needs to be stopped first, and that your brother won't be a threat until after."
"Is my brother a threat in her timeline?" Cody asked.
Aerith shook his head. "She said someone else was going to do it, but tried to steal whatever he needed from Sephiroth before we fought him, so Sephiroth killed the person trying to summon the Harbinger in her timeline."
Cody nodded. "Sephiroth first. Levi second."
Aerith nodded. "And please...don't tell anyone."
"Aerith," Cody said. "I'm not going to let Sephiroth kill you. None of us will, even if Cloud can't move, the rest of us will protect you. Just tell me when the time comes, and I'll keep you safe. Then you and Tifa can finally settle your competition over Cloud."
Aerith smiled. "Sephiroth would kill you."
"Maybe," Cody said. "But I could delay him long enough for Cloud to regain control, or for everyone else to arrive. If, by some miracle, we can keep you alive, what will you do?"
Aerith thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm not really sure. I don't want to give him up to Tifa, but I also don't want to hurt her if he choose me." Her frown deepened. "There's also a small bit of a bleeding effect between the timelines when we talk. When one's afraid, we all feel it a bit. When one's especially happy, or feels especially strongly about someone, the rest of us feel it, whether it's our feelings for Cloud, or anger at Sephiroth, disgust toward Hojo. It gets a bit complicated and hard to think clearly sometimes."
Cody nodded. "Well, I can honestly tell you, I think you're both perfect for Cloud in different ways. Tifa's been in love with him since they were children. You're...well, you. Whoever he chooses, it'll be both the right choice and the wrong one."
Aerith smiled gratefully and nodded. "Careful it doesn't sound like you're attracted to me, too."
"Yeah, sorry," Cody smirked. "You may be beautiful and sweet, but you don't hold a candle to Jessie."
Aerith smiled and nodded. "Good answer." She looked around. "We should get back to the others."
Cody nodded and the three of them stood, heading for the door.
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